
by themindflayer
No one survives the fire… At seventeen, Telos fled home, abandoning a life of wealth and luxury to live on the streets with rogues and carnies. He became the greatest thief in Gorgosa—until he was caught. Now, imprisoned in Ob-Koron, the harshest prison in the world, Telos faces punishment by Daimonic flame. Few survive. Those who do are crippled and scarred for life, their wills broken. But Telos’ skills have drawn the eye of the gods. They need Telos to retrieve a weapon for a coming war millennia in the making. Caught up in seismic events in which shapeshifting Daimons, rogue gods, and mad despots are all closing in on the same prize, Telos—who has only ever relied on himself—will have to learn to lean on others. For, if he fails, the whole world will be consumed in black fire… From Black Fires Rise is an action-packed, heroic sci-fantasy adventure perfect for fans of The Majipoor Cycle and Dungeon Crawler Carl. WHAT TO EXPECT: Clever thief cursed with bad luck by a goddess Fiery tavern-keeper who wants her money back A giant cat who does not give a f*ck A ruthless prison warden who’ll stop at nothing to catch an escaped prisoner Epic lore loosely based on Sumerian mythology Two contrasting soft magic systems An ancient race of telepathic monsters called Daimons +++ BIG NEWS 17.09.2026 +++ BOOK 1 of the series is now currently available on Amazon in eBook and paperback format (the audiobook is on the way but still in development). It has not only been heavily edited and revised based on your feedback, meaning an improved story, but it also features a bonus story revealing a secret from Telos' past, as well as a hand-drawn map, a "behind the scenes" essay, and much more! Please consider supporting this series by purchasing a copy!
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 2 Oct 2026, 06:08 UTC
Entry forecast updated 2 Oct 2026, 06:08 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Coupled 14-day outlook
rs-joint-entry-copula-v1
Any eligible RS entry
6%
Two or more lists
0%
Likely threshold order: Sci-fi → Fantasy → Adventure → Main.
Leading bundle: Sci-fi (6%).
Estimated from one fitted shared story path; category probabilities are not multiplied as if lists were independent.
Separate entry forecast; this probability does not enter the ranking score.
Overall Rising Stars Shadow RS rank
#8766 of 12,150 · 8716 below RS #50
By genre
beats 60% of similar stories
beats 28% of similar stories
beats 9% of similar stories
Mid-pack, room on both levers
Traffic and conversion both sit mid-field for a story this size. Growth here compounds from consistency: steady cadence feeds traffic, and a sharper hook lifts what each view is worth.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 150+ chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.